In the manufacturing of semiconductor IC chips, the safe handling and transportation of chips without incurring damages is a very important aspect of the process. An IC chip, due to its fragile and delicate nature, is frequently protected during handling and processing from damages by encasing the chip in a plastic package. The IC chip may also be encased in a ceramic material at a higher cost.
In recently developed packaging technologies for integrated circuit chips, a small outline J-lead (SOJ) type package that can be either a 300 mil or a 400 mil SOJ has been popularly used. For a 300 mil SOJ, the package has a length of 680 mil, a width of 300 mil and a thickness of 118 mil. Other IC chip packages such as quad flat package (QFP), thin quad flat package (TQFP), thin small outline package (TSOP) have also been used in the industry. In these packages, the body portion of the integrated circuit chip is encased in a thermoplastic material injection molded in a plastic molding process to protect from damages during handling and processing. However, the connecting leads that are attached to the body portion and used to connect the IC chip to other circuitry are exposed around the periphery of the molded plastic package.
The plastic encased IC chips of either a SOJ, QFP, TQFP or TSOP type package must be handled and transported between work stations for further processing in a fabrication plant. Extreme care, therefore, must be taken to protect the connecting leads protruding from the packages from being bent, broken off or otherwise damaged during such handling and transportation. The plastic encased IC chips are normally transported in a tray or, better protected, in a carrier tube. A carrier tube is a plastic container that is extruded in an elongated shape having a substantially rectangular cross-section that can be conveniently used for storing and transporting various IC packages. The carrier tube can be extruded of a plastic material that has a non-transparent plastic body and a transparent window on top, or can be extruded completely in a transparent plastic material. The ends of the carrier tube are left open to allow tubes of any length to be manufactured, and to allow the insertion or removal of IC packages from either end of the carrier tube.
When an IC carrier tube is used to store packaged chips, the tubes are frequently loaded into a tube dispensing device for the insertion of the chips. The process requires a factory technician to manually picking up the carrier tube and then placing them into the dispensing device. It is a laborious task which requires the full attention of a technician.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and a method for loading IC carrier tubes into a tube dispensing device that can be performed in an automated manner without the attention of a human operator.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for the automated loading of IC carrier tubes into a tube dispensing device by utilizing an annular roller that is provided with a plurality of tube cavities in its annular surface.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for the automated loading of IC carrier tubes into a tube dispensing device utilizing an annular roller which is freely rotatable in an annular cavity formed in a loader body that has a top opening for admitting the tubes and a bottom opening for discharging the tubes in a preferred orientation.
It is another further object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for the automated loading of IC carrier tubes into a tube dispensing device that is capable of dispensing IC carrier tubes in a predetermined orientation of either facing up or facing down.